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            <div class="introduction">
                <p>Developing software in iterations means that you divide your work into incremental
                    stages such that you have software with progressively more working features at the
                    end of each iteration. Ideally, you have something to show the customer after even
                    the first iteration. Iterations let you receive feedback early so that you can make
                    course corrections early.</p>
                <p>The matter of planning iterations comes down to deciding how long you want your iterations
                    to be, determining how much work your team can get done in that time, and planning
                    what work should be included in each iteration.</p>
                <p>The GovDev for TFS 2010 v1.0 template supplies an Iteration Path field in each 
                    work item to help you track your work by iteration. You can customize that path 
                    to reflect the iterations that you plan to perform.</p>
                <p><span class="label">In this topic</span> </p>
                <ul>
                    <li>
                        <p><a href="#PlanningTimeBound">Estimate the appropriate work load for an iteration</a>
                        </p>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <p><a href="#Handoff">Schedule an iteration demonstration and handoff</a></p>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <p><a href="#Launch">Launch an iteration</a></p>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <p><a href="#Tracking">Track an iteration</a></p>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </div>
            <h1 class="heading"><span onclick="ExpandCollapse(sectionToggle0)" style="cursor: default;"
                onkeypress="ExpandCollapse_CheckKey(sectionToggle0, event)" tabindex="0">
                <img id="sectionToggle0" class="toggle" name="toggleSwitch" src="../icons/collapse_all.gif" />Create
                tasks to implement and tests to verify each use case</span> </h1>
            <div id="sectionSection0" class="section" name="collapseableSection" style="">
                <p>The iteration plan is represented by the list of tasks and test cases that are scheduled for the
                    iteration. Each task and test case is linked to the use case that it implements. </p>
                <p>The tasks and test cases assigned to each iteration are visible in the Iteration 
                    Backlog query and on the Project/Progress and Test Dashboards. 
                    For more information, see <span sdata="link">
                    <a href="DashboardsGovDev.html">
                        Dashboards (GovDev)</a></span>.</p>
                <p>At the start of the iteration, the team reviews the use cases that are scheduled
                    for this iteration and creates task and test case work items. The task work items describe the
                    work (such as design, development) and the test case work itmes describe the 
                    steps for testing the use case. </p>
                <p>The tasks can be most easily created and linked to the use case by using
                    Office Excel and the Iteration Task Backlog workbook. For more information, see
                    <span sdata="link"><a href="IterationBacklogWorkbook.html">
                        Iteration Task Backlog Workbook</a></span>.</p>
                <p>During the iteration, team members update the completion status and work remaining
                    fields of the tasks and test cases. If the team keeps this information current, the Progress dashboard
                    and other reports indicate how much work remains and the slope of the burndown chart
                    indicates whether the work is likely to be completed on time.</p>
            </div>
            <a name="PlanningTimeBound" />
            <h1 class="heading"><span onclick="ExpandCollapse(sectionToggle1)" style="cursor: default;"
                onkeypress="ExpandCollapse_CheckKey(sectionToggle1, event)" tabindex="0">
                <img id="sectionToggle1" class="toggle" name="toggleSwitch" src="../icons/collapse_all.gif" />Estimate
                the appropriate work load for the iteration</span> </h1>
            <div id="sectionSection1" class="section" name="collapseableSection" style="">
                <p>It is most likely that, during project planning, it was agreed that product increments
                    should be developed in a series of time-bound iterations. Typically, these iterations
                    vary from one week to four weeks. </p>
                <p>The template provides the following reports, which are useful when estimating how
                    much work to plan for an iteration. </p>
                <ul>
                    <li>
                        <p><span class="label">Status on All Interations:</span> This report helps you track team
                            performance over successive iterations. Use the report to see how many use cases
                            and how many hours were completed in an iteration.</p>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <p><span class="label">Requirements Progress and Requirements Traceability:</span> This report lists all requirements, 
                            use cases, tasks, and test cases,
                            filtered by area and iteration. This report can
                            show you how much work was completed by the team in an iteration.</p>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <p><span class="label">Burndown and Burn Rate:</span> Burndown shows the trend of completed
                            and remaining work over a specified time period. The burn rate shows the completed
                            and required rate of work based on the length of the iteration.</p>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </div>
            <a name="Handoff" />
            <h1 class="heading"><span onclick="ExpandCollapse(sectionToggle2)" style="cursor: default;"
                onkeypress="ExpandCollapse_CheckKey(sectionToggle2, event)" tabindex="0">
                <img id="sectionToggle2" class="toggle" name="toggleSwitch" src="../icons/collapse_all.gif" />Schedule
                an iteration demonstration and handoff</span> </h1>
            <div id="sectionSection2" class="section" name="collapseableSection" style="">
                <p>You should plan time to demonstrate the incremental functionality to stakeholders,
                    to gather the team for a retrospective, and to hand off the completed work for validation
                    tests.</p>
                <p>Typically, you should allocate time on the last day of the iteration to demonstrate
                    the working functionality to stakeholders. </p>
                <p>Record the feedback, and save it on the project portal. If the demonstration brings
                    new tasks or requirements to light, create work items as necessary. These should
                    then be fed into future iteration plans.</p>
            </div>
            <a name="Launch" />
            <h1 class="heading"><span onclick="ExpandCollapse(sectionToggle3)" style="cursor: default;"
                onkeypress="ExpandCollapse_CheckKey(sectionToggle3, event)" tabindex="0">
                <img id="sectionToggle3" class="toggle" name="toggleSwitch" src="../icons/collapse_all.gif" />Launch
                an iteration</span> </h1>
            <div id="sectionSection3" class="section" name="collapseableSection" style="">
                <p>Kick off the iteration with a mini-version of the project launch. Bring the team
                    together. Outline the goals and the scope of the iteration. Discuss and present
                    the plan and any targets. Ensure that all team members have enough context to continue
                    with the work in a self-organizing manner. Make time and space for questions from
                    team members, and record any issues or risks that are brought up during the meeting.
                    Store these as minutes in the project portal. As a project manager, follow up by
                    creating risk and issue work items, as appropriate.</p>
            </div>
            <a name="Tracking" />
            <h1 class="heading"><span onclick="ExpandCollapse(sectionToggle4)" style="cursor: default;"
                onkeypress="ExpandCollapse_CheckKey(sectionToggle4, event)" tabindex="0">
                <img id="sectionToggle4" class="toggle" name="toggleSwitch" src="../icons/collapse_all.gif" />Track
                an iteration</span> </h1>
            <div id="sectionSection4" class="section" name="collapseableSection" style="">
                <p>Throughout the iteration, you should monitor its progress daily by using the reports
                    that are provided with the template. You will want to pay extra attention to the
                    Remaining Work, Unplanned Work, Requirements and Requirements Taraceaility reports to make sure that
                    the iteration is tracking against expectations. For more information, 
                    see <span sdata="link"><a href="RemainingWorkReport.html">Remaining Work</a></span>, 
                    <span sdata="link"><a href="UnplannedWork.html">Unplanned Work</a></span>, 
                    <span sdata="link"><a href="UnplannedWork.html">Requirements Progress</a></span> 
                    and <span sdata="link"><a href="RequirementsOverviewReportCMMI.html">Requirements Traceability</a></span> reports.</p>
            </div>
            <a name="AdditionalResources" />
            <h1 class="heading"><span onclick="ExpandCollapse(sectionToggle5)" style="cursor: default;"
                onkeypress="ExpandCollapse_CheckKey(sectionToggle5, event)" tabindex="0">
                <img id="sectionToggle5" class="toggle" name="toggleSwitch" src="../icons/collapse_all.gif" />Additional
                resources           <div id="sectionSection5" class="section" name="collapseableSection" style="">
                <p>For more information, see the following Web resources:</p>
                <p><a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=179023">Project Retrospectives: A
                    Handbook for Team Reviews</a>, Norman Kerth; Dorset House, 2001.</p>
                <p><a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=179024">Agile Retrospectives: Making
                    Good Teams Great</a>, Esther Derby and Diana Larsen; Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2006.
                </p>
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